Odessa

Odessa, abbreviation of Organisation Der Ehemaligen Ss-angehörigen, (German: “Organization of Former SS Members”), clandestine escape organization of the SS (q.v.) underground, founded probably in early 1947 in Germany. A large organizational network was set up to help former SS and Gestapo members and other high Nazi functionaries to avoid arrest, to acquire legal aid if arrested, to escape from prison, or to be smuggled out of the country. The main escape routes were (1) through Austria and Italy, then to Franco’s Spain, (2) to Arab countries of the Middle East, and (3) to South America, especially Argentina and Paraguay, then under the right-wing regimes of Juan Perón and Alfredo Stroessner. The war criminal Adolf Eichmann was apparently aided by Odessa in traveling to the Middle East and then to South America in the immediate postwar years.

Odessa ceased to exist about 1952 and was replaced by an organization called Kameradenwerke (“Comrade Workshop”), which over the following decades sought to aid former Nazis overseas in avoiding capture and maintaining concealment. Whereas Odessa’s work was centred in Germany, Kameradenwerke’s operations were conducted in foreign lands, especially where governments were sympathetic to ultra-right-wing causes, as in Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile.

Inspire your inbox –
Sign up for daily fun facts about this day in history, updates, and special offers.

By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Click here to view our Privacy Notice. Easy unsubscribe links are provided in every email.

Thank you for subscribing!

Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox.